Comb-clip for use with hair

ABSTRACT

A comb-clip for use with hair includes two arms having a pivotable end portion and a free end portion. The comb clip is adapted to enable the arms to be moved toward each other at the free end portion. The comb-clip is adapted to enable the arms to be moved away from each other at the free end portion in an open position of the comb-clip. One of the arms is a comb arm including a comb having a plurality of teeth and the other one of the arms is a cover arm that covers the plurality of teeth of the comb in a closed position of the comb-clip.

FIELD OF THE DISCLOSURE

This disclosure pertains to a comb-clip that has multiple functions foruse with hair.

BACKGROUND OF THE DISCLOSURE

The hair styling industry commonly uses hair clips to hold hair inposition on the head. Also widely used are combs for combing, teasingand styling hair. These common articles form the basis for many of thetechniques used in hair styling.

Hair clips typically include two elongated arms and a spring at onepivotable end. One squeezes the two portions together at the pivotableend for opening the opposing end portion. Once the pivotable end portionis released the action of the spring causes the free ends to close,gripping hair between them. Disadvantages of hair clips include theirlimited usefulness.

SUMMARY OF THE DISCLOSURE

In general, a first aspect of the disclosure is a comb-clip for use withhair comprising two arms having a pivotable end portion and a free endportion. The comb clip is adapted to enable the arms to be movedtogether at the free end portion. The comb-clip is adapted to enable thearms to be moved away from each other at the free end portion in an openposition of the comb-clip. One of the arms is a comb arm including acomb having a plurality of teeth and the other one of the arms is acover arm that covers the teeth of the comb in a closed position of thecomb-clip.

The comb-clip is a multi-purpose tool designed for many purposes for usewith hair, including but not limited to: hair sectioning, coloring,color blocking, hair extension installation, men’s grooming and hardparts, foiling, balayage and haircutting. The comb-clip enables thestylist to work much cleaner in specific areas of the head than everbefore. Stylists are able to maneuver and section away hair in smallerareas of the head so that there is a much cleaner area from which to doprecision work. The comb-clip forms hard parts having sharp, cleanlines, for example, shaved into a part of the hair on the head, whichseparate the shorter hair at the sides and longer hair at the top of thehead. The comb-clip very effectively separates the hard part to createexceptionally clean lines, giving the stylist a guide using the back ofthe comb-clip opposite the teeth of the comb arm. The comb-clip is veryeffective in performing balayage. The hair stylist can use the comb ofthe comb-clip to tease hair and lay the cover arm over the comb arm toclose down the comb-clip for securely holding and perfecting a hairpalette for coloring or carrying out balayage. Another feature is forfusion/ tape in hair extension installation. The comb-clip provides aclean and tight separation of hair because of its comb and clip featuresand allows a very good platform to perform the installation of strand bystrand fusion or tape in extensions.

Referring to specific features of the comb-clip of the first aspect ofthe disclosure, the plurality of teeth of the comb are configured andarranged to extend generally transverse to an elongation direction inwhich the comb arm extends.

In another feature, the comb arm and the cover arm have arcuate shapes.

Another feature is that the plurality of teeth of the comb do not extendpast the cover arm transverse to the longitudinal direction and theplurality of teeth of the comb do not extend past the cover armgenerally perpendicular thereto toward a separation of the arms. This isreferred to as the z direction below.

In yet another feature the comb arm and the cover arm are formed of apolymer material.

In another feature, the arcuate shape of the cover arm generally matchesthe arcuate shape of the comb arm along their lengths. In anotherfeature, the comb arm and the cover arm press against each other in theclosed position.

In another feature the cover arm includes an upper surface and sidesurfaces that extend downwardly from the upper surface toward the combarm, covering the plurality of teeth in the closed position of thecomb-clip.

A second aspect of the disclosure features a comb-clip for use withhair, comprising a comb arm that is elongated generally in an elongationdirection. The comb arm includes teeth spaced and arranged to form acomb in which the teeth extend generally transverse to the elongationdirection. A cover arm is elongated generally in the elongationdirection and covers the teeth of the comb when the comb-clip is in aclosed position. The comb arm and the cover arm have an arcuate shapegenerally in the elongation direction (as seen in a side view). In oneexample, the comb has a concave lower surface and a convex upper surfaceand the cover arm covers the convex upper surface and side surfaces ofthe comb when the comb-clip is in the closed position. Both of the combarm and the cover arm have a first pivotable end portion and a secondend portion that is spaced apart from the first pivotable end portion inthe elongation direction. A spring is attached to the first pivotableend portion of the comb arm and the cover arm, which forces the secondend portion of the comb arm and the cover arm toward each other. Nearthe first pivotable end portion, force can be applied to the comb armand the cover arm so as to move the second end portion of the comb armand the cover arm away from each other to enable hair to be placed inthe comb when the comb clip is in an open position. When the force isreleased or reduced, action of the spring moves the second end portionof the cover arm and the comb arm toward each other, gripping hair whenthe comb-clip is in the closed position.

Reference in this disclosure to the cover arm covering the teeth of thecomb when the comb-clip is in the closed position means that the teethcannot be touched with a finger from an upper or convex location of thecomb-clip and, in some aspects, from sides of the comb-clip.

Referring to specific features of the second aspect of the disclosure,the teeth of the comb are configured and arranged to extend generallyaligned with (e.g., generally parallel to) a curved reference plane thatincludes an axis of the spring and extends generally in the longitudinaldirection and across a width of the comb. Another feature is that thecover arm in the closed position covers or overlays the teeth of thecomb. In another feature the cover arm covers all of the teeth of thecomb so that the comb is not visible in a top plan view. In one example,the concave side of the comb is a bottom surface of the comb and slidesagainst the head when in use. In a particular feature the bottom of thecomb can be touched by a finger when the comb-clip is in the closedposition.

In another feature, the teeth of the comb do not extend past the coverarm both transverse to the longitudinal direction and generallyperpendicular thereto toward a separation of the arms in the openposition (the z direction described below).

Yet another feature is that the cover arm includes side surfaces thatextend toward the comb arm in a direction toward a separation of thecomb arm and the cover arm, covering the comb in the closed position ofthe comb-clip. In one exemplary feature, the side surfaces (and uppersurface of the cover arm) box in the comb. A still further feature isthat the side surfaces include a plurality of teeth. In a feature theside surfaces of the cover arm extend downward from an upper surface ofthe cover arm to a location below the teeth of the comb. In anotherfeature the plurality of teeth of the side surfaces of the cover armextend to a location below the teeth of the comb. In any of the abovefeatures, the bottom of the comb can be touched by a finger when thecomb-clip is in the closed position.

One feature is that the teeth of the side surfaces of the cover arm arenot interlaced with the teeth of the comb on a side surface of the comb.

In yet another feature, the comb arm and the cover arm are formed of apolymer material.

A third aspect of the disclosure is a comb-clip for use with hair,comprising two arms having a pivotable end portion and a free endportion. The comb clip is adapted to enable the arms to be moved awayfrom each other at the free end portion in an opening direction andtoward each other at the free end portion in a closing directionopposite to the opening direction. One of the arms is a comb armincluding a comb having teeth and the other one of the arms is a cliparm. The comb arm and the clip arm extend generally in a longitudinaldirection between the pivotable end portion and the free end portion.Hair is bound between the comb arm and the clip arm when the free endportion of the comb-clip has moved in the closing direction into aclosed position.

Referring to more specific features of the third aspect, the teeth ofthe comb arm only extend transverse to the opening direction and theclosing direction and do not extend along the opening and closingdirections (i.e., the teeth of the comb do not extend in the zdirection). By extending of the teeth is meant a portion of the teeth ina direction from a base of the comb to an end of the teeth. The comb caninclude a spine on one side and teeth extend from the spine towardanother side of the comb at which the teeth are exposed when thecomb-clip is in an open position. A curvature of the comb can enable theteeth to be offset from one another along the z direction as seen in anend view (FIGS. 4C, 11 and 15A). In a feature the teeth of the comb areparallel to each other (e.g., FIG. 17 , FIG. 17A).

In one feature, the comb arm and the clip arm extend generally alongside one another across widths of the comb arm and the clip arm andacross the longitudinal direction. In an example, this means that theclip arm has a curvature in the longitudinal direction (along the xaxis) and transverse thereto (along the y axis) that approximates ormatches a curvature of the comb arm.

In another feature teeth extend generally along the clip arm across awidth of the comb arm (e.g., the teeth have a curvature along widths ofthe comb arm that approximates or matches a curvature along widths ofthe clip arm).

In yet another feature the comb-clip includes a spring at the pivotableend portion that biases the comb clip in the closing direction towardthe closed position. In all aspects of the disclosure, the clip arm (orcover arm) and comb arm can be pivotably fixed to one another at thepivotable end portion.

Another feature is that the clip arm and the comb arm press against eachother in the closed position so as to hold hair therebetween.

Yet another feature is that the clip arm includes an upper surface andside surfaces extending from the upper surface generally along theopening direction and the closing direction, which boxes in a top andsides of the comb in the closed position. A further feature is that theside surfaces include teeth extending generally along the closingdirection and opening direction (e.g., along the z axis). Yet anotherfeature is the proviso that the teeth of the comb do not interlace withthe teeth of the side surfaces of the clip arm at a side of the comb.

Another feature of the comb-clip is that the opening direction and theclosing direction are along a z axis, the longitudinal direction isalong an x axis and a width of said comb arm is along a y axis.

A feature is that the teeth of the comb do not extend along the z axis.

Another feature is that the clip arm includes an upper surface and sidesurfaces extending downward from the upper surface along the z axis to alocation below the teeth of the comb in the closed position.

Another feature is that the comb-clip has a ratio of a height of thecomb-clip along the opening direction and closing direction (e.g., alongthe z axis) when in the closed position, to a length of the comb-clip inthe longitudinal direction when in the closed position, that is not morethan ¼, or not more than ⅕, or not more than ⅒.

Many additional features, advantages and a fuller understanding of thedisclosure will be had from the accompanying drawings and the DetailedDescription that follows. It should be understood that the above Summaryof the Disclosure describes the subject matter of the disclosure inbroad terms while the following Detailed Description describes thesubject matter of the disclosure more narrowly and presents specificembodiments that should not be construed as necessary limitations of thebroad subject matter of the disclosure.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the comb-clip of the disclosure;

FIG. 2 is a left side view of the comb-clip;

FIG. 3 is a top view of the comb-clip;

FIG. 4A is a view from a pivotable end portion of the comb-clip towardthe free end portion showing both a cover arm and a comb arm; FIG. 4B isa view from the pivotable end portion of the comb clip toward the freeend portion similar to FIG. 4A except only showing the cover arm; andFIG. 4C is a view from the pivotable end portion toward the free endportion similar to FIG. 4A except only showing the comb arm;

FIG. 5 is a perspective view of the comb-clip of the disclosure;

FIG. 6 is a right side view of the comb-clip;

FIG. 7 is a left side view of a comb-clip in an open position;

FIG. 8 is a right side view of the comb-clip in an open position;

FIG. 9 is a perspective view of the comb of the comb-clip;

FIG. 10 is a right side view of the comb of the comb-clip;

FIG. 11 is an end view from the free end portion of the comb arm towardthe pivotable end portion;

FIG. 12 is a left side and top perspective view of the cover arm;

FIG. 13 is a right side view of the comb arm of the comb clip;

FIG. 14 is a view looking from the free end portion toward the pivotableend portion showing the comb arm; FIG. 15 is a view of a comb-clip in anopen position looking from the pivotable end portion toward the free endportion; and FIG. 15A is a view of an open comb clip looking from thefree end portion toward the pivotable end portion (i.e., looking into amouth of the comb-clip);

FIG. 16 is a bottom plan view of a cover arm;

FIG. 17 is a bottom plan view of the comb-clip showing the comb arm andthe cover arm;

FIG. 17A is a view as seen along section lines 17A in a direction of thearrows of FIG. 17 ; and FIG. 17B is a view as seen along section lines17B in a direction of the arrows of FIG. 17 ;

FIG. 18 is a top plan view of the comb-clip;

FIG. 19 is a left side view as seen along section lines 19-19 in adirection of the arrows of FIG. 18 ;

FIG. 20 is a right side view of a comb-clip in an open position;

FIG. 21 is a view as seen along section lines 21-21 in a direction ofthe arrows of FIG. 20 ; and

FIG. 22 is a top perspective view of the comb-clip in the closedposition.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Turning now to the drawings, a comb-clip 10 for hair styling includestwo arms. When the comb-clip 10 is oriented as in normal use, one of thearms, a lower arm, is a comb arm 12 that is elongated generally in anelongation direction D, has widths w1 generally perpendicular to theelongation direction D and includes a plurality of teeth 14 spaced andarranged to form a comb 16 (FIGS. 2 and 9 ). The comb arm 12 is normallyused as a lower arm having a lower concave surface that contacts thehead and an upper convex surface. The teeth 14 of the comb 16 extendalong a width w1 of the comb arm 12 (FIG. 9 ). An upper arm, a cover arm18 (also referred to a clip arm), is elongated generally in theelongation direction D and has widths w2 generally perpendicular to theelongation direction D (FIGS. 1 and 3 ). The widths w2 of the cover arm18 are at least as wide as the widths w1 of the comb arm 12 throughoutthe length of each arm in the longitudinal direction D (FIGS. 1 and 2 ).In other words, the comb arm 12 does not protrude past the cover armtransverse to the longitudinal direction D throughout its length (alongthe width of the comb-clip 10 parallel to the y axis shown in FIG. 1 )or perpendicular to the longitudinal direction D toward a separation ofthe comb arm 12 and the cover arm 18 (parallel to what is referred to asthe z axis shown in FIG. 1 ). In FIGS. 3 and 17 this covering of theteeth 14 of the comb 16 by the cover arm 18 is evident by teeth 14 notprotruding past the cover arm 18 along a width of the comb clip 10(i.e., the teeth 14 of the comb 16 are, for example, not visible in atop plan view). Covering of the teeth 14 of the comb 16 by the cover arm18 also means that one cannot touch with a finger the teeth 14 of thecomb 16 from a top or sides when the comb clip is in the closed position(as seen in FIG. 1 ). The cover arm 18 may have a plurality of widths w2(FIG. 3 ) and the comb arm 12 may have a plurality of widths w1 (FIG. 9); a portion of both the cover arm 18 and the comb arm 12 can have arectangular or a trapezoidal shape, for example. Each of the comb arm 12and the cover arm 18 has an arcuate shape extending generally in theelongation direction D (see FIG. 8 ) referring to a side view. Both armshave a lower concave surface and an upper convex surface andapproximately the same or similar curvatures.

Both of the comb arm 12 and the cover arm 18 have a first end portion 20(pivotable end portion) and a second end portion (free end portion) 22spaced apart from each other in the elongation direction D. A spring 15such as a torsion spring (FIG. 15 ) is located at the first pivotableend portion 20 of the comb arm 12 and the cover arm 18 and is connectedto the comb arm 12 and the cover arm 18. It should be apparent that thecomb-clip 10 of this disclosure may use other devices besides a torsionspring at the first pivotable end portion 20 for forcing the arms at thesecond end portion toward and into contact with each other. Grippingsurfaces 26 form a handle near the first pivotable end portion 20 andenable one to squeeze the comb arm 12 and the cover arm 18 toward eachother about a pivot point (axis A of FIG. 18 ) against the bias of thespring 15 so as to open the comb arm 12 and the cover arm 18 at thesecond end portion 22. Hair can be placed in the comb 16 in an openposition of the comb-clip 10. When the gripping surfaces 26 are releasedor pressure on them is decreased, the bias of the spring 15 moves thecomb arm 12 and cover arm 18 at the second end portion 22 toward eachother so that the cover arm 18 presses against or near the comb arm 12,gripping hair in the closed position of the comb-clip 10 (e.g., theclosed position being shown in FIG. 6 and an open position being shownin FIG. 7 ). The comb clip 10 can be formed without any particulargripping surfaces, per se, so long as one can apply a force near thepivotable end portion that opens the comb clip to an open position.

The spring 15 has two fingers 17 (FIGS. 19-20 ) extending transverse tothe pivot axis A of the spring, that contact the comb arm 12 and coverarm 18, respectively, having a spring bias that forces the second endportions of the comb arm 12 and the cover arm 18 toward each other andwhen pressure on them is released or is reduced, into the closedposition of the comb-clip 10. The operation of a torsion spring is wellknown. The spring 15 is held in position by a pivot pin 42 in the pairof openings 40 a of the comb arm 12 registered with a pair of openings40 b of the cover arm 18 at the first pivotable end portion 20 (FIGS.10, 12, 15 and 16 ). Thus, the cover arm 18 and the comb arm 12 arepivotably fixed together at the pivotable end portion 20. The spring 15is also shown when the comb-clip 10 is in an open position in FIG. 20(cutting plane 21-21 being shown), and in FIG. 21 as a sectional viewtaken along plane 21-21.

The teeth 14 of the comb 16 extend transverse to the elongationdirection D, generally parallel to a width w1 of the comb arm. In afeature the teeth of the comb are parallel to each other (e.g., FIG. 17, FIG. 17A). A curvature of the comb can enable the teeth to be offsetfrom one another along the z direction as seen in an end view (FIGS. 4C,11 and 15A). The teeth 14 are located generally parallel to a curvedplane A2 that includes the hinge axis A (FIGS. 10, 17 and 18 ). Eachtooth 14 a is offset relative to an adjacent tooth 14 b (FIG. 4C) alongthe z axis and proceeding across the elongation direction D (as seenfrom an end view) to form part of the arcuate shape of the comb arm inthe elongation direction D (e.g., as seen in the side view of FIG. 10 ).

The cover arm 18 in the closed position covers the teeth 14 of the comb16 of the comb arm 12 (FIGS. 4A and 5 ). The teeth 14 of the comb 16 arecovered on top and on the sides but not on the bottom. The teeth 14 ofthe comb arm 12 do not extend past the cover arm 18 (along a width) whenthe comb-clip is in the closed position (FIG. 17 ). The cover arm 18width or widths w2 is at least as wide as the comb arm width or widthsw1 at approximately each of the same locations perpendicular to theelongation direction D (FIG. 17 ), and in some aspects may be wider thanthe width of the comb arm. The teeth 14 of the comb 16 do not extendpast the cover arm 18 along the x or y axes or along the z axis (thatis, in a plane of the paper shown in FIG. 17 (x, y plane), or in a planeperpendicular thereto; in a plane in the z direction, parallel to or incutting plane 19-19, coming out of the page in the view of FIG. 18 ).The D direction is parallel to the x axis. The sectional view taken fromthe cutting plane 19-19 of FIG. 18 is shown in FIG. 19 . Of course, thisis only one exemplary aspect of the disclosure. One does not go outsideall aspects of the scope of this disclosure by making the comb-clip 10with one or more teeth 14 of the comb 16 that extend beyond the coverarm 18 in the x, y or z directions.

The teeth 14 of the comb 16 extend generally along a width w1 of thecomb arm 12 and, in particular, comprise most of a width w1 of the combarm 12. The comb arm 12 has a spine 30 (FIG. 17 ) extending generallyalong the elongation direction D (the spine being a portion having noteeth), forming a foundation or base from which the teeth 14 extend. Theouter surface of the spine 30 forms what is referred to as the back side7 of the comb 16 (FIG. 17 ). When the comb-clip 10 is in the closedposition and oriented as it would rest on the head during use, the backside 9 of the comb-clip 10 is formed by the side surface 32 of the coverarm 18 that is adjacent to the spine 30 of the comb 16 (the side surfacevisible in FIGS. 7 and 22 ). The spine 30 may have different thicknessesat locations along the elongation direction D (FIG. 17 ), graduallyreducing in thickness (thickness being along width w1) moving from thehinge end portion 20 toward the second end portion in the elongationdirection D.

In one aspect the cover arm 18 includes an upper surface 19 and optionalside surfaces 32 extending downward from the upper surface 19 along itssides, parallel to the z axis). The side surfaces 32 extend generally inthe elongation direction D and are spaced apart in a direction of thewidth w2 of the cover arm, the distance between the side surfaces 32corresponding to the cover arm width w2. The side surfaces 32 extendalong the sides of the comb along the z axis. One or both side surfaces32 of the cover arm 18 can include teeth 34 (FIGS. 5-7, 20 and 22 ) at alower portion of the side surfaces 32. The side surfaces 32 may also beformed without teeth 34. The upper surface 19 and side surfaces 32 boxin the comb 16 around its periphery when the comb-clip 10 is in theclosed position. The side surfaces 32 of the cover arm 18 have a base orspine 36 (FIG. 7 ) at an upper location of the side surface 32. Thespine 36 is located above the teeth 34. The teeth 34 of the cover arm 18extend from the base 36 approximately to, or somewhat lower than, thebottom surface 38 of the comb arm 12 (FIG. 6 ) in the closed position ofthe comb-clip 10.

Referring to FIG. 16 , the inside surface of the cover arm 18 has tworows 21, 23 of optional triangular elements, for example triangularelements 25′ and 25″. The height of the triangular elements that aregenerally referred to as 25, changes to match a contour of an uppersurface of the comb 16 and progressively decreases from the pivotableend portion 20 toward the free end portion 22. For example, triangularelement 25′ (shown in FIGS. 16 and 17 ) extends for a greater heightalong the z axis than triangular element 25″ (shown in those figures)which is closer to the free end portion 22 than is triangular element25″. The plurality of triangular elements 25 of varying height are alllocated approximately the same distance along the z axis from a top ofthe comb 16 (FIG. 19 ). With reference to bottom and side views, theplurality of triangular elements 25 can be formed to be aligned with aspace between adjacent teeth 14 of the comb 16 (see FIGS. 17 and 19where the triangular elements are positioned between the teeth 14). Thetriangular elements 25 may function to hold hair in the comb clip whenit is in the closed position, the hair being pressed between thetriangular elements 25 and the teeth 14 of the comb 16. The teeth 14 ofthe comb 16 can optionally be aligned with spaces between the teeth 34of the side surfaces 32 of the cover 18 (see FIG. 17 ). The teeth 14 ofthe comb 16 are located near the root of the teeth 34 of the sidesurfaces 32, near the base 36 of the side surface 32, along the zdirection when the comb-clip 10 is in the closed position (FIG. 6 ) asseen from a side view, which further presses hair in the comb 16 into afixed position. The teeth 34 of both of the side surfaces 32 of thecover 18 protrude below the comb 16 along the z axis as seen in a sideview (FIG. 6 ). Hair is also pressed between the teeth 34 of the sidesurface 32 and the spine side of the comb 16 (FIGS. 1, 7 and 22 ).

When the comb-clip 10 is in the closed position, a thicker end portionof the comb 31 presses against an inner surface of the cover arm 18,forced together by action of the spring 15. This can occur at an innersurface location 33 of the cover 18 that does not include the triangularelements 25 (see FIG. 17 ).

The comb arm 12 and the cover arm 18 may be formed, for example, of apolymer material. However, the comb-clip 10 could be formed of othermaterials or combinations of materials, for example, metal or wood, or acombination thereof, for example, a polymer or wood casing with a metalteeth insert. The comb-clip 10 can be formed to include the metal combinsert during the polymer molding process. Other materials of thecomb-clip are a carbon mixed nylon blend or ABS polymer along with a“rubber overlay” (coating) on an upper surface of the comb-clip.

The comb-clip 10 has multiple functions. It enables both hair clips andcombs to be replaced but it also can be used together with conventionalclips and combs. Multiple comb-clips 10 can be used during a single hairstyling. The comb-clip 10 offers a hybrid functionality that gives hairstylists much more versatility than hair clips and combs alone. One useis that the stylist can move longer hair out of the way with thecomb-clip 10, giving a clean palette of hair to work with. The stylistuses a separate comb to push the long hair up. Then, the comb-clip 10 isopened and the comb 16 slides up against the bottom of the upturnedhair. The comb-clip 10 is then closed, with the cover arm 18 pushing thelonger hair in the opposite direction and keeping it out of the way.This reveals the clean lines of the palette of hair beneath thecomb-clip 10 for the stylist to work with. This works well especiallyfor shorter hair including women’s pixies and even men’s cuts. Thepalette of hair has a clean separation at its upper location and letsthe hair stylist really focus on this cleanly separated region. This isalso ideal for working on hair extensions in the hair palette region,utilizing the clean lines beginning at the even separation at the top ofthe hair palette, beneath the hair kept up by the comb-clip 10.

In women’s short hair cutting, the comb-clips 10 can also be used whenworking on diagonal sections in the nape area. For example, a comb isused to form a vertical part and then a diagonal part is made after thatusing the comb-clip 10 which then is closed and holds the upper hair outof the way. This forms a hair palette in the area between the partswhere the hair can be cut or treated as desired. In another example,hair at the back of the head above the ear can be parted somewhatvertically and hair can be held forward of this part using a comb clip10. A perpendicular part can extend backwards from that part and hairabove it can be held out of the way with another comb-clip 10. The hairforming the parts or around the parts can then be cut or treated asdesired. In yet another example a part can be formed on the right sideof the head from top to front and a comb 16 of an open first comb-clip10 can be located onto the precise region of the part, slid up above thepart and released to hold the hair that is above the part away from thepart. Then a rounded part at the top back of the head is formed using aseparate comb and a second comb 16 of a comb-clip 10 is located at theprecise region of the part and slid forward, holding hair away from thispart. A comb can be used to form a third part on the left side of thehead, parallel to the part on the right side, and the comb 16 of a thirdcomb-clip 10 can be precisely located at the part and slid up above thepart and released to hold the hair that is above the part away from thepart. The hair at and below the parts can then be cut or treated asdesired. Still further, one can work in tight areas of the head in a waythat was not possible before. For example, one can use a separate combto make a vertical and horizontal or diagonal part at the back of thehead, locate a comb-clip 10 at the horizontal or diagonal part, move thecomb clip up holding hair out of the way and maintaining the two parts,enabling the stylist to do clean sectioning and precision hair cutting.

Another use of the comb-clip 10 is for coloring hair. For example, inthe balayage technique a section of hair is gathered close to the top ofthe head and moved over and out of the way, leaving a separated sectionof hair extending downward from the separation. Instead of using aseparate comb, the stylist can use the comb 16 from the open comb-clip10 and tease the hair. This is done by holding a small width of the hairof the palette near its free end with some tension while moving the comb16 through the hair portion toward the head. After teasing once ortwice, once the comb 16 moves toward and then against the head, thestylist just lightly releases the gripping portions 26 so that the coverarm 18 moves toward the comb arm 12 of the comb-clip 10 into the closedposition, which holds the teased portion of hair in place. Balayage canalso be done without teasing the hair. The stylist holds onto the end ofthe clipped portion of hair and performs balayage by putting a sheet ofthin stain resistant material behind the hair portion and then coloringthe hair with a brush while it is held in place at the upper location bythe comb-clip. The portion of hair can have color applied along itslength from the free end portion all the way into contact with thecomb-clip 10 near the roots of the hair. The stain resistant sheet isremoved, the comb-clip 10 is removed and a foil piece is placed beneaththe colored strip of hair, followed by another foil piece over it. Thisprocess is then repeated multiple times for coloring further outersections of hair over the colored, foil encased strip of hair and forother areas of hair along the circumference of the head.

In particular, “TEASYLIGHTS” with the Balayage technique is acombination of balayage highlights and traditional foil highlights. Thehair is teased prior to the colorist hand-painting bleach or color whereit is desired to place the highlights. Rather than hand-painting, thecolorist uses foils and softly backcombs or teases small sections ofhair before applying the lightener or color. This diffuses the blendbetween the lift and the base tone.

The comb-clip 10 can also be used in color blocking as a hair colortechnique. Chunky highlighting or lowlighting may be considered as colorblocking, but most typical color blocking does not include many areasthat are the same color. The comb-clip 10 can be used in a “peek-a-boo”panel technique, in which an accent color is applied to a wide panel ofan interior layer of hair. The effect is that upon movement of the hair,the color beneath is seen in flashes and sometimes unusual shapes. Thehair may also be styled into up-dos so as to reveal the color panel andproviding a bold feature to the style.

Another use of the comb-clip 10 is for making hard parts. The hairstylist combs the person’s hair giving an approximate part. Putting in aregular hair clip would only grip the hair and have limited usefulnessfor making a part. On the other hand, the comb-clip 10 of the disclosureis opened by the hair stylist who then locates the comb arm 12 with theteeth 14 up pointing toward the top of the head (the arcuate shape ofthe comb 16 matching the shape of the head), precisely against the roughpart, and moves it upward against the longer hair above the part andthen releases or reduces pressure on the comb clip 10, closing it andgripping the longer hair above the part. The comb-clip 10 may be movedso that the back side is located in the region of the intended part. Thecomb-clip 10 serves to move the upper hair portion away from the partand the shorter lower hair portion, giving good clean separation fromthe lower hair portion beneath the comb-clip 10. The stylist then runsthe clippers directly onto or near the back side or spine of thecomb-clip 10 as a guide, cutting hair and forming the hard part with avery clean line. The comb-clip 10 is then squeezed at the hinge endportion 20, opened and removed from use. A simple yet very clean hardpart results. As a variation, the hair stylist can also use scissors ora razor to create the hard part using the back of a comb-clip 10 as aguide.

Many modifications and variations of the subject matter of thedisclosure will be apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art.Therefore, it is to be understood that the subject matter of thedisclosure can be practiced otherwise than has been specifically shownand described.

What is claimed is:
 1. A comb-clip for use with hair comprising two armshaving a pivotable end portion and a free end portion, the comb clipbeing adapted to enable the arms to be moved toward each other at thefree end portion, the comb-clip being adapted to enable the arms to bemoved away from each other at the free end portion in an open positionof the comb-clip, one of said arms being a comb arm including a combhaving a plurality of teeth and the other one of said arms being a coverarm that covers said teeth of said comb in a closed position of saidcomb-clip.
 2. The comb-clip of claim 1, wherein said plurality of teethof said comb are configured and arranged to extend generally transverseto a longitudinal direction along which said comb-clip extends.
 3. Thecomb-clip of claim 1 wherein said plurality of teeth of said comb do notextend past said cover arm transverse to a longitudinal direction alongwhich said comb-clip extends and said plurality of teeth of said comb donot extend past said cover arm generally perpendicular thereto toward aseparation of said arms.
 4. The comb-clip of claim 1 wherein said combarm and said cover arm are formed of a polymer material.
 5. Thecomb-clip of claim 1 wherein said cover arm includes an upper surfaceand side surfaces that extend downwardly from the upper surface towardsaid comb arm, covering said plurality of teeth in the closed positionof said comb-clip.
 6. The comb-clip of claim 5 wherein said sidesurfaces include a plurality of teeth.
 7. The comb-clip of claim 1wherein said comb arm and said cover arm have arcuate shapes.
 8. Acomb-clip for use with hair comprising: a comb arm that is elongatedgenerally in an elongation direction, wherein said comb arm includesteeth spaced and arranged to form a comb in which said teeth extendgenerally transverse to the elongation direction; a cover arm that iselongated generally in the elongation direction and covers said teeth ofsaid comb arm when said comb-clip is in a closed position; said comb armand said cover arm having an arcuate shape generally in the elongationdirection; wherein both of said comb arm and said cover arm have a firstpivotable end portion and a second end portion spaced apart from thefirst hinge portion in the elongation direction; a spring attached tosaid first pivotable end portion of said comb arm and said cover arm,which forces said second end portion of said comb arm and said cover armtoward each other; wherein near said first pivotable end portion forcecan be applied to said comb arm and said cover arm so as to move thesecond end portion of said comb arm and said cover arm away from eachother to enable hair to be placed in the comb when said comb clip is inan open position, wherein when said force is released, action of saidspring moves the second end portion of said cover arm and said comb armtoward each other, gripping hair when said comb-clip is in the closedposition.
 9. The comb-clip of claim 8 wherein said teeth of said combare configured and arranged to extend generally aligned with a curvedreference plane that includes an axis of said spring and extendgenerally along the longitudinal direction and across a width of thecomb.
 10. The comb-clip of claim 9 wherein said teeth of said comb donot extend past said cover arm both transverse to said longitudinaldirection and generally perpendicular thereto in a direction toward aseparation of said comb arm and said cover arm.
 11. The comb-clip ofclaim 8 wherein said comb arm and said cover arm are formed of a polymermaterial.
 12. The comb-clip of claim 8 wherein said cover arm includesan upper surface and side surfaces that extend downwardly from saidupper surface along side surfaces of said comb, covering said comb inthe closed position of said comb-clip.
 13. The comb-clip of claim 12wherein said side surfaces and said upper surface of said cover arm boxin said comb.
 14. The comb-clip of claim 12 wherein said side surfacesinclude a plurality of teeth.
 15. The comb-clip of claim 14 wherein theplurality of teeth of said side surfaces of said cover arm are notinterlaced with the teeth of the comb on a side surface of the comb. 16.A comb-clip for use with hair comprising two arms having a pivotable endportion and a free end portion, the comb clip being adapted to enablethe arms to be moved away from each other at the free end portion in anopening direction and toward each other at the free end portion in aclosing direction opposite to the opening direction, one of said armsbeing a comb arm including a comb having teeth and the other one of saidarms being a clip arm, said comb arm and said clip arm extendinggenerally in a longitudinal direction between said pivotable end portionand said free end portion, wherein hair is bound between said comb armand said clip arm when said free end portion of said comb-clip has movedin the closing direction into a closed position.
 17. The comb-clip ofclaim 16 wherein said comb arm and said clip arm extend generally alongside one another across widths of said comb arm and said clip arm andacross the longitudinal direction.
 18. The comb-clip of claim 16 whereinsaid teeth extend along a width of said comb arm.
 19. The comb-clip ofclaim 16 comprising a spring at said pivotable end portion that biasessaid comb clip in the closing direction toward the closed position. 20.The comb-clip of claim 16 wherein said clip arm and said comb arm pressagainst each other in the closed position so as to hold hairtherebetween.
 21. The comb-clip of claim 16 wherein said clip armincludes an upper surface and side surfaces extending generally fromsaid upper surface along the opening direction and the closingdirection, which boxes in a top and sides of said comb in the closedposition.
 22. The comb-clip of claim 21 wherein said side surfacesinclude teeth extending generally along the closing direction andopening direction.
 23. The comb-clip of claim 22 with the proviso thatsaid teeth of said comb do not interlace with said teeth of said sidesurfaces of said clip arm.
 24. The comb-clip of claim 16 wherein saidclip arm includes an upper surface and side surfaces extending downwardfrom said upper surface to a location below the teeth of the comb in theclosed position.
 25. The comb-clip of claim 24 wherein said sidesurfaces include a plurality of teeth that extend to a location belowthe teeth of the comb in the closed position.
 26. The comb-clip of claim16 wherein the opening direction and the closing direction are along a zaxis, the longitudinal direction is along an x axis and a width of saidcomb arm is along a y axis.
 27. The comb-clip of claim 26 wherein saidteeth of said comb do not extend along the z axis.
 28. The comb-clip ofclaim 26 wherein said clip arm includes an upper surface and sidesurfaces extending downward from said upper surface along the z axis toa location below the teeth of the comb in the closed position.
 29. Thecomb-clip of claim 16 whereby a ratio of a height of the comb-clip alongthe opening direction and closing direction when in the closed position,to a length of the comb clip in the longitudinal direction when in theclosed position, is not more than ¼.
 30. The comb-clip of claim 16whereby a ratio of a height of the comb-clip along the opening directionand closing direction when in the closed position to a length of thecomb clip in the longitudinal direction when in the closed position, isone of the following: not more than ⅕ or not more than ⅒.